Symbols
by The Frisky Firelily
Summary: Sequel to Occasions. A look at some moments in the life of the crew and their little ones, through the symbols they see. M/I Z/W K/S R/J
1. Tattoos

**TITLE:** Tattoos

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine.

**A/N: **Due to the intense and powerful awesomeness of my reviewers, I have decided to write this sequel to Occasions. This will largely be snapshots of moments throughout the lives of the crew post Occasions. It is likely to be intensely flufftastic, so please bring along a toothbrush and some floss. And off we go!

**TATTOOS**

Jason Washburne was a solemn looking little fellow even at five years of age. Being the oldest of a group of five kids all stuck on a boat meant that he often had to be the responsible one. Not that he usually minded, especially not with the girls, but the Tam twins often tested the little man's patience. At only three they were complete and utter terrors, eager to get into any and all trouble that they could find for themselves and their fellow playmates.

It didn't help that Uncle Simon, although excellent with teaching, was not particularly good at discipline. He would melt at their big puppy dog eyes (which Jason suspected they'd learned from Auntie River), and it was something that exasperated Auntie Kaylee to no end. Jason didn't know why, but Auntie Kaylee found it hard to control them also. It probably just wasn't in her sunny nature. Daddy had once told him that nothin' in the 'verse was enough to destroy Auntie Kaylee's smile, and whilst Jason was normally grateful for this, it drove him mad when neither parent would tell off their naughty boys.

Still, at least they were fairly consistent in their mischief making. Which meant he was actually fairly surprised to hear Uncle Jayne was yelling at Safa, not Michael and Kayne. He snuck into the galley and stood next to his Ma, her hand immediately falling to his shoulder in a comforting gesture. Like him, his Ma never said much, but saw everything. Pa was always laughing and talking, and it made Jason happy to have two parents to learn different things from. The value of silence and dinosaur voices were important lessons.

Uncle Jayne had Rayne up in his arms, and the little girl was bravely trying to control her tears. Rayne never bawled or sulked like Safa or the boys, it wasn't in her sweet natured temperament. But Safa could throw a tantrum like nobody's business, and even with Uncle Mal in the room, Uncle Jayne wasn't having a bar of it.

"You know them crayons was a present fer her birthday. Ya got yer own presents, don't think it's ok ta be stealin' hers." Safa turned dark, angry eyes to her Ma, who just stood silently like a regal queen surveying the scenery. She then turned to her Pa, whose stern eyes offered no sympathy. Mal may acquiesce to every little thing his daughter usually asked him for, but he wouldn't let her think stealing was acceptable. At least, not from other crewmembers.

It was strange; Safa and Rayne were usually the best of friends. The loud, fiery Safa would come up with grand stories and imaginative scenes, and the quiet, small Rayne would happily act out anything the bigger girl wanted. They even shared a birthday, and neither had ever begrudged the other her gifts. Except lately Safa seemed to be growing jealous. Uncle Jayne, who she had somewhat of a childish crush on, was always doting on his baby girl. She was so smart, so special, so like her Ma. And even if the quiet little girl was the smartest four-year-old in the 'verse, Safa would sometimes get jealous of the attention. Uncle Jayne usually made the effort to spoil both of them, but after Rayne had drawn him that big picture of Vera he'd decided to get her an extra birthday present, the special box of crayons.

After seeing no support from her parents, and feeling hurt and angry at the admonishment from her beloved Uncle, she turned furious eyes back at him. "It ain't fair, you love her more than the rest of us. I hate you!" And with that she had turned and ran out of the room, tears in her eyes.

Jason looked up to his Ma, who nodded at his unspoken request. He slipped out of the room down to the cargo bay, where he could see his Auntie River move silently across the floor. Auntie River was so pretty and delicate looking, people said Rayne looked just like her, and Jason didn't think that was a bad thing. The five-year-old thought she was the prettiest lady in all the 'verse.

She snuck behind a crate where Jason saw Safa sitting and crying. The little girl refused to meet her eyes, still jealous of the way Uncle Jayne doted on his wife and daughter, still jealous of how smart everybody thought Rayne was. Auntie River smiled.

"No tears, little one. There are questions you should ask." As used to her strange way of speaking as everybody else, Safa raised her head. Daddy had once told her that she should always listen to Auntie River, that there weren't nobody in the 'verse who knew things like Auntie River did.

"What I gotta ask?" River smiled at the little girl. "Pictures on biceps, ink drawings. Ask origins." Safa scrunched up her nose, confused as to what she was hearing. Auntie River slipped back out of the cargo bay, disappearing. Jason decided enough looking for one day, and went to find his Ma and some lunch.

Safa sat for a moment, before going up to find her Ma. Mama was the most beautiful woman in the whole 'verse, and Safa was always delighted when people said she looked like her. She was currently sitting in the now empty galley, sipping at tea and flipping through a book. She looked up at her daughter, wanting desperately to smile but knowing she was still in trouble.

"Yes?" Safa walked up and sat by her, little hands resting in her lap. "Mama, whassa bicep?" Inara raised an eyebrow at her daughter. "It means arm." Safa nodded, pausing for a moment. "And whassa onigin?" Inara smiled. "Do you mean origin?" Safa nodded. "It means where something came from."

Safa thought about the long lines of ink all over Uncle Jayne's arms. She knew they used to be less, his skin used to be barer, but now it was covered in words and numbers and pictures, all in thick black ink. Daddy told her once they were called tattoos, and that she wasn't allowed to have one until she was a million years old. She thought that was a little unfair.

She nodded at her Mama solemnly, leaving the confused woman and going in search of her Uncle. He was down in the cargo bay, pushing up that heavy bar like he did when Auntie River got hurt or he was angry at something. She figured it was probably the latter. She sat down on the floor cross legged, knowing Uncle Jayne could always smell if someone was nearby.

She looked at his arms as she waited for him to acknowledge her. They were covered in designs of animals and other things. They looked beautiful, like the drawings Auntie River sometimes did, all detailed and dark on his thick arms.

"Whaddya want, little one?" His voice was angry but he still used his nickname for her. "Uncle Jayne, where d'you get dose tattoos?" He stopped pushing up the bar, sitting up and wiping himself off with a towel.

"Bout six months ago, but yer Auntie's been workin' on the design for 'bout a year 'fore she got it jus' right." Safa thought for a moment. Her tiny brain may not be as fast as Rayne's, but she had a feeling there was more she was meant to ask. She looked back up at him.

"Whatta dey mean?" Uncle Jayne raised an eyebrow at her, noticing River standing at the top of the stairs with Inara, both women looking down and listening, unseen by Safa.

"K, well the numbers is all yer birthdays. Yer here, the boys are all there, Rayne is here. The pictures she drew fer each of ya. The two whirlwinds on either forearm is fer Kayne and Michael, Rayne is the kitten, Jason is the wolf, and yer that flame on my bicep. The words is bits o' a poem yer Auntie River said I should have." She looked at him expectantly. He sighed. "Somethin' 'bout takin' my love an' my land an' not takin' the sky, she said it was important."

She stared at all the pictures decorating her uncle's arms. "What 'bout on da back?" He grinned in that private way he always did when he thought about Auntie River. He didn't know how to explain the crossed Reaver blades that lay across the full expanse of his back.

"That's fer yer Auntie River."

She looked at him intensely, little mind knowing she was still missing something. So she asked what Uncle Simon said was the most important question in the whole 'verse. "Why?" Uncle Jayne looked embarrassed for a moment.

"So's I can keep ya wit' me all the time."

Safa blinked. Uncle Jayne wanted them all on him always. 'Cuz he loved them. She stood up and her little legs took her over to him, where she immediately threw her arms around his neck and sobbed.

"I'm sorry U'cle Jayne, I didn' mean ta break her crayons, I'm sorry I yelled." He hugged her, patting her back affectionately. "S'ok little one, I know ya didn' mean it. Jus' remember I love you too." And he sent her up to apologise to her friend.

He looked up at where River and Inara stood, now joined by Mal and Wash. The latter two were smirking at the uncharacteristic display of emotion from the big mercenary. River floated down and smiled at him in that special way she did when he got something right. She gave him a sound kiss on the lips, taking his hand and pulling him up the stairs.

"Oh Jaynie, when do I get a pretty bit o' ink on yer body?" He glared at the pilot. "Shut up little man," following his pretty wife as Mal and Wash chuckled.

Thank god they hadn't seen the rest o' them.

He'd never hear the end of it.

**A/N: **How are we travelling gentle readers? As always, suggestions of things you might want to see are welcome! Please review.


	2. Twin Bands

**TITLE: **Twin Bands

**DISCLAIMER: **Not mine!

**A/N:** Another chapter, although I must admit I've had trouble with inspiration. Ah well, writers block is a universal bitch n'est pas? Love!

**TWIN BANDS**

They'd made a name for themselves, that much was certain. Badger watched as Mal entered his office, along with his two gun hands and first mate. Looks can be deceiving. He's all too aware of how effective they are as a team, all eyes focused on the raw strength and exuding hostility of the large man, stoic calm and strength of the first mate, nobody ever suspecting the delicate girl to be the one worth more fear. But they kept her under wraps, and if Badger hadn't known better he'd have assumed she was just the moon brained niece Mal claimed her to be. But she wasn't.

He had to admit, even after finding out she was a psychic government assassin, even having been on the end of her gun before in less amicable situations, he still had a bit of a soft spot for the girl. It was hard not to, with her faking his accent so well the first time they met, all slim legs and tangled hair. He briefly let his mind wander to her legs, lean and strong despite their look of fragility, currently ensconced in a pair of skin tight pedal pushers. A sliver of the milky skin of her calves was revealed in the gap between her black pants and the clunky combat boots. One creamy shoulder was left bare by the black hooded tunic she wore; also tight enough that her slender curves were on display.

His mind drifted a moment too long, and two loud clicks echoed through the room. Mal and Jayne were known to get a mite protective of their little Reader, and the corner of Zoe's mouth twitched in amusement. Cobb in particular seemed to grow twitchy. Maybe the big man had a little crush. When his eyes met River's they were calm, something he was smart enough to detect as not being particularly reassuring. The mercenary looked scarier, eyes holding that slightly feral look in which this crew seemed to specialize. He turned his eyes back to Mal.

"Well then, Cap'n Reynolds, 'ow's ya crew goin'? All them li'le ones givin' ya touble? Yer up to five now, right?" He knew it irritated Mal no end that he knew about the youngest members of the crew, and was sure to remind the good Captain of that knowledge. He was yet to share it; largely due to a particularly terrifying conversation Jayne had initiated which had ended with him pissing himself. But it was still fun to stick it in the Captain's craw.

As far as he knew, and his sources were fairly accurate, there were five children on Serenity. He knew of Jason Washburne, had seen him in Persephone before, the little boy as stoic as his mother with his father's bright blue eyes. He'd glimpsed Safa Reynolds before, the little girl the spitting image of her mother with her father's temper. He knew there was another girl, he thought she was Cobb's, but he didn't know the mother and had never seen the little thing before. Given the father's penchant for whoring, it seemed unlikely he'd ever know about the mother. He'd also been told the mechanic had twins, but he'd no idea as to if this was entirely true and who the father was.

Mal's gaze sharpened. "Well enough thank ya kindly, but we ain't here ta discuss no kids. Whatcha got fer us today?" Badger smirked when Mal didn't refute the number, and made a mental note to find out more about the children of Serenity. Just in case.

He gestured for Mal to sit, Zoe standing just behind his right shoulder, the girl and the merc taking up positions around the door. Jayne leaned against a wall, the brim of his hat pulled low over his eyes, a cigar clenched between his teeth. Badger wasn't dumb enough to assume that meant he wasn't paying attention. The girl had moved behind him, giving him a strange feeling a discomfort, and putting her in the Captain's eye line. He'd figured out a long time ago that lying in the presence of Mal's Reader was a bad idea, so he just laid it out.

"Cargo, 'eaded for Boros. Easy job, decent pay, but the client is particularly worried 'bout the safety of his cargo. He wants insurance." Mal raised an eyebrow, turning his head to look at Zoe, who didn't betray a thought.

"Well now, an' what 'xactly does this fine gentleman request as insurance?" Badger heard the edge to Mal's voice, but the pay packet would be particularly lucrative to both of them, and he had to say this just right. He opened his mouth to reply when he was cut off.

"No." She rarely spoke, but her words always seemed to carry more weight than one would expect from someone so young. Mal raised one eye brow. "Somethin' wrong 'tross?"

"No. Will not leave progeny for insurance." Mal looked back to his first mate, who always seemed to figure out what the girl was saying before he could. Her face was still as always, but the stony set of her jaw and the fire in her eyes told him her thoughts quite eloquently. His merc was in the same position, silent and expression hidden by the hat. Badger tried to smile charmingly at the girl behind him.

"Now now luv, ain't no 'arm that'd come to 'em. Sides, why'd you care so much anyway, ain't like any o' 'em are yours." He studied her face, her expression calm and controlled, frustratingly blank of anything.

"Familial ties are not solely created through blood." It was a vague statement, deliberately blank in implication. Badger paused for a moment, and if he hadn't he would never have caught the movement. Mal's merc, the big man laden with firearms, had twitched his finger ever so slightly. It was enough to make Badger look more closely at his hands. The arms had more tattoos than he remembered, were now covered in sleeves of ink, and the fourth finger of his left hand had a single black band across it. He quickly turned his head, just catching the light bouncing off the ring on the fourth finger on the Reader's left hand. He smirked.

"Mal, you let Cobb take the girl? Shame on you, such a young'un at that. Thought you said she was like a daugh'er or summat, guess that sorta thing is easy ta trade." Mal's face froze, and Badger knew he'd overstepped his bounds. The mercenary had pushed himself off from the wall in a decidedly lazy way, walking slowly towards Badger.

His men quickly tried to draw arms, but Cobb didn't even flinch, not with Mal, Zoe and River simultaneously pointing two guns in every direction. The mercenary reached him and bent down low to his face, close enough that the cigar nearly burned Badger's cheek.

"Speak 'bout my wife that way again an' they won't be finding the pieces." He withdrew, moving back to his position on the wall, his words low enough that nobody apart from his crewmembers had heard him.

Badger cleared his throat, desperate to regain control of the situation long enough to finish the meeting. He was quick to offer an alternative. "He wants ta travel with ya then, make sure 'is cargo is safe, dong ma?" Mal nodded, the meeting proceeding calmly, guns slowly holstered. But Badger's mind remained on what he'd seen – River Tam was no more, River Cobb was all that was left. That band on her finger had shown him that much, and the mercenary was careful to keep her between himself and his Captain, blocking her slim body from view.

Badger waited for fifteen minutes after they left, wanting to be sure Mal's strange crew with their feral eyes was completely gone, before he excused his men. He deftly tapped names into the cortex, quickly finding the latest available pictures of the crew. There was one, a snapshot taken on Crawan, the crew out around the market. There was the girl, standing out slim and pale amongst a crowd of people, her tall husband just behind her. On his shoulders was a little girl, no older than four, pointing at something with a happy expression on her face. It was difficult to make out from the photo, but he thought Cobb looked particularly pleased with his situation.

Badger thought about a recent wave from a man called Niska, a man he'd been warned would only bring danger and turmoil. The wave had been regarding information on the crew of Serenity, and had been accompanied by a hefty reward. The focus had been on Reynolds, but was also accompanied by some old warrants for the Tam siblings, requests for their whereabouts and rewards for obtaining them. Badger thought about all that cash, how much more control he could buy with it. And he wondered how much little girls with long dark hair and the gift of Reading like their Mama's would fetch.

He looked back at the picture. Cobb definitely looked pleased with himself, his little wife tickling her daughter's toes, the pretty little girl a miniature version of her beautiful mother. Jason Washburne was visible, eyes trained to the tops of Cobb's shoulders with a look of longing at odds with his young face. Wash had one arm around his wife, talking to Book, who was watching the doctor try to handle his situation. Zoe and Kaylee walked side by side, the doctor bringing up the rear with two identical boys who had mischief in their eyes. Reynolds and the whore, something Serra, were off to one side, obviously engrossed in some kind of fight, their daughter laughing at the antics of the twins.

It was a decidedly domestic scene, and Badger felt a strange sense of longing in the pit of his stomach. All that cash Niska was offering, just for information. It would be enough to buy his own cargo ship, attract a pretty girl, maybe start a family of his own. Plus, more money.

He flicked to Niska's wave, the warrant files and contact information attached to it professionally, speaking of possibilities of future ventures with the wealthy man. And all for information on one lousy crew of misfits. He looked back to the picture, at the pleasure in Cobb's eyes, at the frazzled look of joy on the doctor's face, at the hand Zoe rested on her son's shoulder. Even Mal and Ms Serra looked to be enjoying their fight.

He thought about the wedding bands he'd seen today, one functional and permanent, the other suiting the delicate beauty of the wearer. Twin bands representing love and commitment, something he'd never found for himself. The right thing would be to delete the files from the cortex, to make sure nobody else could find the crew of Serenity. Course, when was he the kind of man to do the right thing?

The action on the cortex took all of three seconds. He turned away from the computer, satisfied and pleased with himself. He'd never been a fan of doing the right thing. He wasn't Reynolds, the upstanding man of justice; he was just a street dweller looking to get by. Doing the right thing didn't get you paid or laid.

So why did it feel so damn good?

**A/N:** Not sure where this came from or if it even makes sense. Twas obviously meant to be somewhat foreshadowing. Please let me know what you think, muchos love :) Symbol suggestions are always welcome!


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